In 2016, 49 people were gunned down at The Pulse, a nightclub and gay bar in Orlando, Florida. Sia later released the video for her song, “The Greatest,” paying tribute to those who had their lives stolen from them. Starting with the hashtag, #WeAreYourChildren, and ending with a room full of dancers collapsed on the ground in front of a wall riddled with holes, the video is a stark reminder of the cost of hatred, ignorance, and intolerance. June 12th, 2020 will mark the 4 year anniversary of the tragedy.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been using this time of enforced “solitude” to do some re-evaluating (and writing, of course). I went through all the trouble of getting my teeth fixed because of the health concerns associated with the way they were. Now, it’s time to start working on the rest of my health.

I had been thinking of trying yoga for a while now, because I know I need to get more active, but I hate the “standard” exercise things I mostly heard about. Jumping jacks, treadmills, stair masters, no, no, no. Yoga, though. I’m probably going to find out I’m wrong about this later, but it seems more like a low impact sort of workout, that is still…you know…a workout.

I never really bothered though, because of my living situation. When you share a home with four other people and very little room to yourself, it’s hard to find a place to do any sort of exercise without tripping over someone else, or having them up in your business. That will (hopefully) be changing very soon, though. We’re working on changing our living situation, and I am still hoping to relocate to another state by this time next year. Given all that, I figured it would probably be a good idea to start making the whole working out thing a habit sooner, rather than later. So, as I’m writing this, I am munching on chips and salsa, and looking up yoga lessons online. Gyms are open in Texas now, but I already work in a risky environment. I don’t need to add onto it.

Now onto the writing news. Chapter 15 of “Don’t Feed the Trolls” is complete, and has been through my beta reader. I am currently planning on scheduling it for June 18th. If all goes well, Chapter 16 will be released July 16th. I have no idea yet how many chapters this monster is going to be, but it’s looking like close to 25-30. There’s a lot going on, and I don’t want to cheapen the story by just glossing over the events that are going to take place.

I haven’t had a chance to look into self publishing “Say ‘No!’ to Zombies” yet, due to the school closures, and having to take over full time teaching the kiddos, but that is also on the ‘to do’ list for the month. I am hoping to have news to give you in the July 1st post.

I think that’s all the news for now. I stopped doing the writing log because it wasn’t actually helping me keep up with anything. All it told me was that I’m too easily distracted, and I already knew that. I think, until the living situation changes, this is just how things are going to be. Once I have a little more room to myself it won’t be as bad (that’s my hope, anyway). Once I have a little more time to myself, it really won’t be as bad.

Oh! There is one more bit of news. I do still hope to finish “Don’t Feed the Trolls” before the end of the year. That means I will hopefully be able to start posting a chapter more than once a month. No promises though. I don’t want to make a promise I’m not sure I can keep. Also, once I’m done with “Don’t Feed the Trolls,” I’ll have to take a break to work on some of my other stories. They’ve been sitting on the back burner for much too long.

Now, I’m done with the news. I hope all of you are staying safe and sane, and I’ll see you next month! If you’re taking part in the protests, remember to keep your eyes open and look out for each other.

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This is the last week of Mental Health Awareness month, but unfortunately, the suffering for those with mental illnesses continues, as does the stigma, which arguably, does the most harm. Did you know 1 in 5 Americans will suffer from a mental illness in any given year? I know, thanks to Nikki’s efforts last year in opening up about her own struggles. The truly heartbreaking thing about this, is the knowledge that those “1 in 5” aren’t getting the help they need, and it’s only partly because the help isn’t there. The other part is the stigma. It stands to reason that, if we reduce the stigma, we might be able to increase the odds of a person getting help, and making that person’s life so much easier. I don’t know about you all, but it’s worth it to me.

Now, onto the main event. The final song for this month is by an Irish singer, Rosie Carney. I had never heard of her before this year, but apparently she is very open with her own struggles. Her calls for reducing the stigma surrounding mental illnesses is also echoed in her song, “Awake Me.”

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Just when she thought everything was finally settling down, Shelly is once again thrown into the fray. Her friends are stuck on the other side of the Mississippi River, with no weapons, no food, and no chance of survival without her help. Throw in the complete collapse of civilization, extremely limited technology, and hordes of zombies that are becoming more and more sentient every day…

Hey, no one said it was going to be easy, but where there’s a will, there’s a way, and Shelly made sure to update hers just before she left.

Please note: this work contains language and themes that may not be appropriate for young readers.

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Week three of Mental Health Awareness month and this is a song that always makes me cry. There are many celebrities who struggle with mental health issues. Some of them keep it to themselves, and some, like musicians Chester Bennington and Justin Furstenfeld, turned their struggles into art. You’ll see plenty of Chester and Linkin Park around here eventually, but for today, here’s “Hate Me” by Blue October.

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For week two of Mental Health Awareness month, I’m bringing you more rock. Two very important people in my life suffer from anxiety, among other things, and the daily battle is real. This song by The Veer Union is all about fighting the “enemy” in your head “until the bitter end.”

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May is Mental Health Awareness month and for the first song, I’d like to introduce you all to Gemini Syndrome. “Metal” music gets such a bad rap sometimes, but you’d be surprised how much meaning some of the songs pack in. “Remember We Die” packs in a plea for anyone struggling to keep holding on, as well as the reminder that there will be “plenty of time to see the other side,” so until then, “just let the light shine from your soul.”

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In May 2000, I graduated high school in – I believe – the bottom quarter of my class (I believe my GPA was in the 2.0s, if even that high – I hated my school). It’s now May 2020, and I am a college graduate with a 3.98 GPA. If you all will excuse me, I need a minute to sit down and process this.

Seriously though, this is a very weird time for me. For the past four years, aside from a week-long break here and there, every day has been filled with research and/or homework. Now…I don’t even know what to do with my time. I mean, the state finally bit the bullet and shut down the schools for the rest of the school year, so the kids are still doing online schooling, and I do have the new job, so my planner isn’t going to be completely empty, but it’s weird not penciling in my own assignments and whatnots. Once everything calms down, and the kids are done with school, I plan on penciling in some “me” time. Nothing special, but maybe I’ll Uber over to an IHOP or something, where I can sit back and read or write in peace. Maybe I’ll find the local library, instead. I miss libraries…

Anyway, it’s May 1st, and I had planned on getting straight back to writing, but I got called into work later today, and I also work all this weekend. I wanted another day to myself, but ah well. I’ll just have to wait til Monday to get back to writing. I don’t have a chapter of “Don’t Feed the Trolls” to release for this month yet, and I’d like to change that. It’s already halfway done, but I need to look back at where I left off, and get back up to speed.

I’ve set aside looking for an agent using “Say ‘No!’ to Zombies,” simply because, at the moment, I’m thinking it might be a bit wrongfooted, if you know what I mean. I do plan on looking into self-publishing it though. Might have to skip on the editor for now, which kinda sucks, cause I found one I like, but it is what it is. Maybe next year I’ll be able to have her look it over, but I’m also planning on moving sometime next year, so…we’ll see. As far as I’m aware, Amazon allows ebooks to be updated by the author, so if I am able to afford her services, I can just update the file.

I hope you all are staying safe and sane. It’s crazy right now, but we’re all in this together. ♥

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For the last week of April, we’re going back to Child Abuse Awareness. Once again, I dipped into songs from way back in my country music phase. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I listened to “Storm in the Heartland” (no judging!). “Enough is Enough” is less of a story, and more of a rallying cry in the fight against child abuse.